Fingerpointing over tape about alleged abuse by Syracuse coach
Dec-02-2011

Syracuse University's chancellor said on Thursday the school would have fired ex-coach Bernie Fine eight years earlier had it known of an audio tape that suggests he sexually molested young boys, which was being held by the local newspaper.
In an opinion piece published in USA Today on Thursday, chancellor Nancy Cantor noted Fine, who is accused by three men of sexually abusing them when they were juveniles, was fired on Sunday, just hours after sports network ESPN aired the tape.
On the tape is a recorded telephone conversation between alleged victim Bobby Davis, now 29, and Fine's wife Laurie in which she appeared to admit knowledge of the alleged abuse.
Fine, who has not been charged, has called the accusations against him "patently false in every aspect."
Davis first went to the Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper in 2002 with the allegations and supplied the recording in 2003, but the newspaper did not publish any stories at the time. Davis then took the tape to ESPN, which didn't publish the recording until last month when more accusers came forward.
In 2005, an anonymous email about Davis's accusations was received by the university, which conducted its own internal investigation but dropped the matter when it failed to corroborate his claims.
At the time, the university was unaware a tape existed and that it was turned over to the newspaper in 2003, information that would have immediately cost Fine his job, Cantor said.
"Fine would have been fired on the spot," Cantor wrote in USA Today on Thursday. "When the tape emerged for the first time on November 27, we fired Fine. Those who held onto the tape for nearly 10 years owe everyone an explanation."

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